Security in Networked Worlds

Digital applications for the new German ID card, new mobility concepts and innovative display technologies are the focus of this year’s CeBIT presentation by Berlin-based Bundesdruckerei GmbH. The future is also big on the agenda this year: Visionary application scenarios show what high-security technologies can do in the field of secure identities.

Reliable proof of identity has long since been more than just a matter of forge-proof ID documents. What we are now talking about are complex systems that also warrant reliable identity protection in digital communications.

“As one of the world’s leading suppliers of high-security systems, we believe that one of our most important tasks is to securely connect different worlds,” says Ulrich Hamann, CEO of Bundesdruckerei GmbH. In light of the rapid pace of development it was only logical that some of the applications on show are conceived for the future. Not least since the introduction of the new German ID card in November 2010 will mark the launch of a document that forms a bridge between offline and online realities.

Especially in the field of digital identity management, Bundesdruckerei will show that networked worlds demand more than just a traditional photo ID. The so-called eID service is needed in order to open a bank account online or to enter into a mobile phone contract using the new ID card. This service checks identity data and authorisation certificates and thus ensures that data can be exchanged securely between online services and their customers.

When it comes to innovation, Berlin’s high-security company will present studies of future generations of state-of-the-art ID documents. This includes ultra-thin displays that are so flexible that they can be wrapped around a pencil. This display technology now marks a new milestone in protection against forgery. Data windows, for instance, working on the basis of organic LEDs (OLEDs) could one day display important information that could be updated immediately when needed – for instance visa information or once-off passwords for secure online services.

It has yet to be seen how long it will take for state-of-the-art eID documents to provide greater security in combination with mobile phones. In a joint project with Deutsche Bahn, Bundesdruckerei has already demonstrated that the use of Near Field Communication (NFC) is technologically possible. Anybody about to use a popular Call a Bike bicycle will be able to read out and transmit their document data via an NFC mobile phone. Once the customer and supplier have been mutually authenticated, the customer can use his mobile phone to rent a bicycle at one of the Call a Bike terminals with a corresponding NFC reading device.

“This is an important step and one that reveals much about future possibilities and demonstrates how networked worlds can be made more convenient, efficient and, above all, more secure,” explains Hamann.

Visit Bundesdruckerei’s booth in the Public Sector Parc, hall 9, booth D 80.